“We are seeing a tectonic shift in recruitment, moving away from mass recruitments towards a laser focus on high-performance candidates with very specific skills – quality over quantity,” Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, Business Head, TimesJobs, aptly describes the current scenario in digital hiring.

In Part 1 of our Deep-dive report on digital hiring, we had explored the changing face of recruitment, the key platforms used by recruiters, the Digital Vs Traditional conversations, and the cost & time factor.

In the second part of this report, we shall look at how job portals are leveraging the business, as well as the dos & don’ts for job seekers in the digital space.

Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, Business Head, TimesJobs

Speaking further, Krishnamurthi said, “We are seeing the digital revolution in every aspect recruitment. For instance, the CV has transformed from a piece of paper to a profile database of information about the candidates that can be mined and cross-referenced with big data, social media and AI tools to provide a comprehensive 360-degree view of candidates.”

Earlier, job seekers had only a few big brands that they would aspire to work with, today with a proliferation of start-ups and the entrepreneurial wave, the employer space has been completely democratised. Now, there are smaller companies, which can be aspirational brands for candidates with niche skills, and big corporations can have smaller divisions which are doing great work in very specific areas. To help candidates make smarter career decisions in this digital age, TimesJobs has launched JobBuzz to provide insights into such companies. JobBuzz helps candidates select those companies that will be the best fit for them and their career growth.

A Monster.com spokesperson shared that in recent years, the online career and recruitment resource has witnessed several significant changes in recruitment landscape. There has been a gradual shift towards social media, networking platforms and hiring skilled candidates. Moreover, the industry practices have undergone a crucial transformation by the growth of digital technologies. Though the path to digital transformation is critical, it has an opportunity to close the gaps in technology, individuals and businesses. Leveraging digital technologies will streamline the hiring outlook in the country and identify the right talent pool suitable for different roles across the sectors.

Challenges & Opportunities

According to Krishnamurthi, to remain competitive, HR professionals need to upgrade their recruitment methods and processes to leverage digital recruitment technologies – this is both the challenge and opportunity faced by HR professionals today. To enable HR professionals to leverage the opportunities that technology provides them, TimesJobs has initiated a series of recruitment webinars that are organised online to help HR professionals master high-end recruitment skills and practices. This is the age of digital disruption and innovation.

Digital recruitment allows recruiters a more selective approach to recruitment, allowing them to target and quickly focus on the right candidates, radically reducing turnaround time, and improving conversion rates, stated Krishnamurthi. For instance, TimesJobs provides Skill Assessments for candidates to evaluate their personal skill-sets against the latest industry standards, along with personalised suggestions and resources to upgrade their skills and grow faster. These assessments in turn help recruiters judge the skills and competency of the candidate, even before they meet them. Previously, the only way to do this was by calling them for interviews and conducting your own tests, which was very time-consuming and inefficient.

“We have received great response to our digital initiatives from our extensive recruiter community on TimesJobs, as we serve a corporate customer base of more than 25,000 clients from across the globe,” said Krishnamurthi. TimesJobs.com has been serving clients like Infosys, HCL, IBM, Yamaha, Godrej, HSBC, Mahindra, Bajaj Allianz, TCS and Thomson Reuters, to name a few.

Evolution in the hiring process

Krishnamurthi lists a few more instances from TimesJobs that illustrate how digital recruitment has radically enhanced the hiring process –

Job Sharing on LinkedIn & Facebook: TimesJobs provides contextual employer branding benefits. Candidates want to see a face to who is recruiting, the job, the company - providing a social link adds much needed context to the job posting. In addition, candidates are no longer just on one platform, but can be engaged with across the internet. So TimesJobs enables recruiters to share their jobs on LinkedIn & Facebook as well. With one click on the social link icons, from TimesJobs itself, jobs can be posted instantaneously on their LinkedIn/ Facebook timelines to be shared and referred to across social media.

TJ Hire mobile app: Today, recruiters want to get in touch with candidates even when they are on the move, and not just from their desktops. This app helps them search, shortlist and connect with candidates even when they are away from office or travelling. TJ Hire mobile app is exclusively for recruiters to reduce turnaround time of hiring and provide them real-time information on-the-go.

TimesJobs App for candidates: The mobile is now the first screen of access for candidates, and TimesJobs mobile app provides them with all the necessary tools to enhance their career growth in the palm of their hand.

JobBuzz: Candidates also want to know about more about a company and its performance, values, culture, salary, etc. before applying to for a position. JobBuzz provide such insights into companies and helps candidates select those companies that will be the best fit for them and their career growth. JobBuzz Insights include Top 5 reasons to work, Top 5 reasons to leave, Average job tenure, Employee strength by Qualifications, Employee's Feedback for New Joinees, Employee's Feedback for the company management, Ratings in terms of Career Growth, Work Culture, Salary Hikes and Work-Life Balance, Insights from employees, Comparisons with competitors and Interview Tips to name a few.

This kind of clarity and transparency in recruitment would not be possible without digital recruitment technologies and platforms.

What the work force feels

Karamjeet Singh,Senior Manager–Paid Media,iProspect India

For Karamjeet Singh, Senior Manager – Paid Media, iProspect India, LinkedIn is the ideal platform in today’s times to look for a new job. According to him, it helps employers find good profiles while searching for candidates. Meanwhile, candidates can apply for jobs in various companies as per relevance and liking. However, to garner actual benefits from such platforms, it is crucial to use them to their features appropriately and optimally. Citing an example, Singh remarked, “In LinkedIn, what’s important is to have a complete and updated profile, which helps you get noticed. When actively looking for a job, it is in fact a good idea to go one step ahead and buy a premium subscription for a limited period to increase chances of finding a suitable role. Another great platform for looking for jobs is Facebook groups like Media Jobs, which include daily updates. One can even browse through search engines which pop up with different websites with multiple job options available online.”

Nemawarkar believes that it is through digital marketing that so many young talents could establish themselves in a short period of time. The digital marketing has compelled pre-eminent business leaders to think about the online business. As a result, not only corporates but the freshers too are influenced by the digital marketing. In other words, digital marketing has taken over conventional marketing or promotion.

Meanwhile, Karamjeet Singh opined that in today’s day and age, it is of utmost importance to be active on digital media to be found by recruiters as they are constantly on the lookout for fresh talent on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. Hence, updated profiles along with up-to-date CVs help a lot when looking to get a job. It is also important to understand the scope of work to land the right job. For example, a thinker understands the product and communication well, while a doer is better at executing marketing innovations. Different verticals need a different approach and content is core for all verticals – SEO, SEM and Social. Besides, fresh talent comes with fresh perspective and even gets tuned with no baggage on their head. Also, as they are millennials, they even understand the existing TG better.

Enhancing skill sets

For Karamjeet Singh, reading more and self-learning are the key to enhancing one’s skill sets. He added, “There is a lot of information online – Search engine watch, Search Engine land, Facebook Blueprint, Think with Google and other online portals. I have subscribed to various learning portals to keep abreast of the latest developments taking place in the digital industry. The mailer comes right into my inbox and it can’t get any more convenient!”

Dhawal Nemawarkar, too, thinks that one of the least expensive ways to improve and increase one’s skills is to read good books on the subject. One can also go through articles or blogs online.